Slug ejecting mechanism for typographical slug casting machines



Oct. 31 1939. ALBRECHT 5-;- AL 2,178.295

SLUG EJECTING MEC I-I ANISM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 22, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Oct. 31, 1939- c. A. ALBRECHT ET AL SLUG EJECTING MECHANISM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 22, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 km s awn/70R! 00f. Q ALBRECHT ET AL SLUG EJECTING MECHANISM FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed 001;. 22, 19.38

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SLUG EJEGTING MECHANISMFOR TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 22, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Oct. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES SLUG EJECTING MECHANISM FOR TYPO- GRAPHICAL SLUG CASTING MACHINES Christian Augustus Albrecht, Berlin, and Paul Sckrabei, Berlin-Lubars, Germany, assignors to Mergenthaler Linotype Company,

Brooklyn,

N. Y., a company of New York Application October 22, 1938, Serial No. 236,464

In Germany February 25, 1938 12 Claims.

This invention relates to typographical slug casting machines, such as those known under the registered trade-mark Linotype, and is directed to the slug ejecting mechanism used therein.

In known slug casting machines, the slugs cast in the moulds are ejected by ejector blades, and it has already been proposed to replace a solid ejector blade by a composite plate made up of a number of narrow strips or blades and to couple the required number with the operating mechanism so as to ensure that the ejector in use for the time being will be appropriate to the length of the slot of the mould actually in use. In the case of the machines heretofore proposed having such an arrangement, it is necessary each time a mould is adjusted to a diiferent slot length also correspondingly to adjust the ejector blades, that is to couple with the operating mechanism, by hand, a greater or smaller number of the 20 sectional plates.

The present invention is intended to eliminate the work connected therewith and the loss of time incurred, more especially when frequent mould changes have to be made, and this by effecting automatically the adjustment of the ejector blade width.

With this end in View the invention consists in slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine comprising an ejector blade formed from a plurality of adjustable elements, a greater or less number of which can be used together in order to form a blade of width corresponding to the length of the mould slot in use, and means for advancing the elements to the mould and mould slot prior to a casting, thereby automatically selecting for setting, and thereafter looking in operative positions, the number of elements appropriate to the mould slot in use, while retaining the remaining elements in in- 40 operative positions. Thus when employing the invention it is merely necessary to bring a fresh mould with a longer or shorter slot length into the operative position in the regular manner, and the ejector blade width required is adjusted automatically.

' The invention will be clearly understood from thefollowing description of one form which it may assume, and this description will be more readily followed by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example one constructional form of the invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ejecting mechanism and of adjacent machine parts in their initial positions in mechanism according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view but shews the parts after the adjustment of the ejector blade width has taken place;

Figure 3 is an illustration of the same parts when the ejection'of the slug from the mould is taking place;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section through Figure 1 taken on the line 4-4;

Figure 5 is a section through Figure 2 taken on the line 55;

Figure 6 is a section through Figure 2 taken on the line 'l-l;

Figures '7 and 8 are sections through Figure 3 taken on the lines 1 and 88 respectively;

Figure 9 is a combined view of part of the section according to Figures 5 and 6 drawn to a larger scale;

Figures 10 and 11 represent respectively in side and'front elevation the essential parts of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 12 represents in plan, on an enlarged scale, a detail shown in Figure 10.

In carrying the invention into effect in one convenient manner as shown in Figures 1 to 9 of the accompanying drawings, there is provided a machine frame 9 and a cam shaft l0 mounted in the machine frame, the latter carrying the cams'enabling the machine to carry out its different mechanical functions.

In the machine frame is located the mould disc I I wherein are mounted the moulds I2. mould disc is rotatably mounted on the mould slide [2a adapted to slide on the machine frame in a transverse direction. The mould slide is operated by a cam mounted on the cam shaft H]. In the mould wheel slide and likewise slidable in a transverse direction is also mounted the ejector slide 13 which is connected to the ejector slide lever l5 by means of a link M, the said lever being pivotally mounted about the pivot IE on the machine frame. The ejector blade is moved forward towards the mould in the customary manner, a nose piece ll being provided on one arm E5 of the ejector lever, the said nose piece being adapted to come into contact periodically with a nose piece l8 on a cam disc l9 and to be taken with it. In order to return the ejector lever I5 from its forward into its initial position a roller is used, adapted to engage with the edge 2! of a drum-like ring 22 rotatable with the shaft ID. This drum-like ring 22 is cut away over a section in order to offer to The the roller a clear passage for the forward movement of the ejector.

A depression 23 also formed in the ring 22 is adapted to receive the roller 28 when it runs on the ring. This causes the ejector lever I 5 to perform a short swinging movement resulting in a forward movement of the ejector slide.

In the mould wheel slide I20. are located next to each other a large number of narrow strips or blades 24 constituting the ejector. The respective blades are connected to rods 25 which are guided in grooves of the mould wheel slide. In the rear of each of these rods 25 there is provided in the slide l2a a spring 25. The springs are 10-- cated in recesses of the slide l2a which prevent their spreading beyond certain limits. They are supported at one end against the end wall of the pertinent recess and at the other end against the ends of the pertinent rods 25 pressing the latter and the blades 24 connected to the said rods towards the mould.

A transverse ledge or step 2? is provided on the ejector slide l3 and in reference to the latter is movable perpendicularly to the direction of movement of the slide, carrying for this purpose two studs 28 (Figure 9) arranged to project into a casing 29 aifixed to the slide I3, e. g., by means of screws. In the said casing, springs 30 are located which, on one side rest against a collar of the stud 28, and on the other side against the end of the casing 29, and thereby press the transverse step 2l' against the slide 53. A stud 3i fitted with a knob is arranged on the ledge 2'! between the two guiding studs 28.

On the machine frame is mounted a double lever pivotal about a stud 32, which at its end 33 is forked, while its other end carries a roller 34 adapted to come into contact with a cam 35 on the ring-shaped cam disc 22. By means of a spring 36 the said lever is held in the position in which the forked portion 33 rests against the slide I3. The studs 3| are so positioned in reference to the lever that they will engage the fork 33 when the slide is retracted.

The mode of operation of the mechanism described is as follows:

In their initial position the parts occupy the positions shewn in Figures 1 and 4. The nose pieces 3'! provided on the individual rods 25 are located in the rear of the ledge 38 of the rail 21, and consequently all the rods 25 are held against forward movement towards the mould.

When the operative cycle begins, the cam shaft ID with the cams thereon, rotates in the direction of the arrow. Shortly after the commencement of the operative cycle, the roller 20 drops into the recess 23 of the ring 22, and consequently the ejector slide I3 performs a small forward movement towards the mould. Almost simultaneously the roller 34 comes into contact with the cam 35 and so rocks the lever 33 that the latter moves the stud 28 from the position in which it is shown in Figure l into the position according to Figure 5. The result of this is that the nose pieces 3? are brought out of engagement with the ledge 38, and the rods 25 become free, so as to be enabled through the action of their springs 26 preliminarily to advance until the nose pieces 31 bear against a ledge 39 of the ejector slide l3. Those rods 25 which are connected to the ejector blades located in the rear of the liners of the mould in operative position, cannot take part in the said movement, as the ejector slide has been moved forward to such an extent, that the forward ends of these blades are in contact with the mould, and the nose pieces of the said rods thus remain in the rear of the ledge 38. The remaining blades located opposite the mould slot are capable of penetrating into the mould so that the nose pieces 3'! of the pertinent rods 25 slide over the ledge 38 of the rail 21, until they come up against the ledge 39 of the ejector slide I3. When, during the further movement of the cam shaft, the lever 33 again becomes free and the rail 2? under the action of the springs 38 again returns into the initial position, the nose pieces 3'! of those rods 25, of which the ejector blades have passed into the mould slot, are located between the ledge 33 of the rail 27 and the ledge 39 on the slide 13. The parts now occupy the positions in which they are shown in Figure 2 and in section in Figure 5 or 6.

During the continued operation of the machine, the roller 2% is forced out of the recess 23 and the ejector lever I5 is moved back into its initial position. Consequently the ejector slide I3 is also moved back and thereby takes with it the ejector blades 24. The said parts thus resume the position shown in Figure 1, except that some of the ejector blades are slightly in front of the others. The nose pieces 31 appertaining to the projecting blades are located in the rear of the ledge 39; the nose-pieces of the other blades on the other hand, are located in the rear of the ledge 38. During the greater part of the remaining operative cycle, the parts remain in the said position until towards the end of the operative cycle the abutment l8 comes into contact with the abutment IT on the ejector lever and allows the actual ejecting operation to proceed. Those ejector blades of which the nose pieces 3'! are located between the two ledges 38 and 38 then forcibly partake in the said movement. They penetrate into the mould slot and eject the slug located therein. hand, the remaining ejector blades merely move forward through the action of the springs 26 until a further spread of the springs is no longer possible, the blades hardly coming into contact with the mould, or with the liners of the mould; in every such case, however, the springs 26 are able to yield and the blades caused to recede. During ejection the position of the respective parts is that shown in Figure 3 and in the sections according to Figures '7 and 8, Figure 7 showing the position of the inoperative ejector blades and Figure 8 the position of the blades which have been guided through the mould.

After the ejecting operation, the ejector lever is again moved back in the usual manner by the edge 2| of the cam ring 22 and the parts return into their initial positions except that now some of the nose pieces 31 of the respective rods 25 are partly in front, and some are partly in the rear of the ledges 38.

If, during a subsequent operative cycle, another mould is brought into adjustment in the mould disc, the ejector is immediately changed automatically in the manner previously described because shortly before the commencement of each operative cycle all the blades are released and only those capable of penetrating into the mould slot are coupled to the slide to become active at the next operative cycle.

In a modified form of the invention shown in Figures 10 to 12, the mechanism is arranged so that the ejector blades are not advanced to the mould slot and set in relation to the ejector slide according to the dimensions of the slot, during each operative cycle of the machine, but

On the other only during the operative cycle succeeding the interchange of the mould wheel by adjustment of the mould wheel orotherwise (e. g., by opening the vise frame and exchanging the mould which is in operative position.)

"In this construction of the invention the ejecting mechanism isof identical construction to thatde'scribed above. a The coupling of theblades of the'ejector to the ejectorslide is also eifected here by the coupling rail 21,- which, by means of the'stud 3i, engages the forked extremity 33 of the lever swinging about the pivot 32. The said lever carries at its other end the roller 36 adapted to co operate with the cam piece 35 on the cam disc 22 and thereby effect the uncoupling or as 1 the case may be the coupling in the manner described.

v The roller 34 is mounted on a stud 4! which is capable of sliding in a bore 4| of the lever 33. The said stud has two notches 52 in which is adapted to penetrate a fiat spring d3 so as to lock the stud and the roller 34 in both end positions. A spring M which is attached at one end to a stationary part of the machine and at the other end to the stud 49, tends to pull the stud out of the forward position shewn in Figure 12 into the rearward position. On its underside the stud MI is provided with a pin it running in a slot of the lever 33. Against this pin rests a lever ll mounted on the machine frame, and capable of swinging about a stud Mi. To the lever il is attached a link t8, the other end of which is connected to the arm 49 of a double lever'pivotally mounted about the stud iii]. The second arm 5! of this double lever is so bent that itsend lies in front of the pinion 52, which, as is known, is axially displaceable on the machine frame, and is, employed for rotating the mould disc ll. When the pinion is in its slid-in position, it is coupled to the driving mechanism of the machine, and rotates the mould disc, as known, either to the extent of one-quarter turn, or three-quarters of one turn. If, on the other hand, the mould has tobe changed, the pinion 52 is pulled forward in'the direction of the arrow,

bymeans of the handle 53, so as to disconnect it from the driving mechanism of the machine, but it stillremains in' mesh with the mould disc H, and by-turning the'pinion 52, the mould disc can be rotated until the desired mould reaches the operative position.

Orr-the cam 22, a further cam piece 55 is arranged which, with its inner surface is capable of acting-on the roller 3i or on its stud, and thereby move the roller axially,

The mode of operation of the means described is as follows:

When the roller 35 is in the advanced position shewn in Figures and 12, it will operate in the manner described in connection with the device shewn in Figures 1 to 9, and effect the uncoupling of the ejector blades by means of the ejector slide. As soon as an uncoupling operation has taken place, however, and complementary thereto, the further rotation of the cam disc 22 causes the cam piece 5 to become active. It pushes the roller 3% with its stud, axially into the bore ll, until it is locked in the slid-in position by the spring at. The uncoupling of the ejector takes place in the manner indicated previously, but at each subsequent operative cycle the ejector blade coupling is no longer released, because the roller 34 now lies beyond the reach of the cam piece 35 and in consequence of this, the uncoupling of the ejector blades need no longer be attempted. The ejector thus remains invariably set until a change of mould has to be made. If,

for this purpose, the handle 53 with the pinion 52,

are pulled forward in the direction of the arrow, the lever Q95l, is rocked about its pivotal stud '58 as the extremity of the lever 5i rests against l a change of moulds can also be effected without rotating the mould disc, if, by tilting forward the vise frame of the machine in order to allow access to the mould disc, the mould-in operative position is unscrewed, and replaced by a new one, or the liners merely exchanged. In order to ensure that in such case the uncoupling of the ejector blades takes place for the purpose of efiecting the fresh adjustment referred to previously, a sliding block 55 provided, located in the machine frarne, and is so operatively connected to the vise frame, that when the vise frame is tilted back, it is moved rearwardly, that is towards the left in Figure 10. A manner in which this can be effected, is, for instance, by the insertion of a stud in the sliding member 55, the said stud being connected to a double lever, the free arm of which rests in front of the vise frame. At the rear end of the sliding member 55 is mounted a resilient bolt 5'5 resting against the lever M. When the vise frame is tilted forwards the sliding member 55 through the bolt 55 presses the lever il'. into the position in which it is shewn in Figure 10, so as to bring the roller 34 in the operative position in the manner hereinbefore mentioned. The bolt 56 is resiliently mounted so as to enable the spring eventually to take up the excess motion of the sliding member 55, but the said spring -.must be powerful enough to overcome the resistance when the roller 3 is shifted.

It may naturally happen that it is necessary to open the vise frame for other purposes, and when the mould does not actually require any alteration. In such cases, the-roller 34 is also brought into the operative position and as a complementary function, a single uncoupling of the ejector blades takes place. This, however, is of no consequence, as the vise frame is comparatively seldom opened, and as a general rule, the uncoupling will be avoided. Any convenient alternative means may be used for causing the vise frame to act upon the roller 54 when it is opened or when the pinion 52 is pulled forward, and the sliding of the roller 34 into the operative position may be effected during the changing of a mould by the movements performed by any other machine part.

It should be understood that the invention is not restricted solely to the details of the form described above, since various modifications may be introduced as they become desirable in order to carry the invention into efiect under different conditions and requirements which have to be fulfilled, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described our invention, we declare that what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine comprising a sectional ejector blade adjustable in width, and means actuated by a periodically power actuated part of the machine and controlled by cooperation With the casting slot of the mould in use for automatically adjusting the effective width of the blade in accordance with the length of said mould slot.

2. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine comprising an ejector slide, a plurality of blade sections slidably mounted therein, means for holding selected sections n and out of slug ejecting positions, and automatic means, actuated by a periodically power actuated part of the machine and controlled by cooperation with the casting slot of the mould in use, for selecting the number of sections appropriate to eject a slug from said mould slot, and for adjusting said selected sections to their operative positions.

3. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine comprising an ejector slide, a plurality of ejector blade sections slidably mounted therein, means for moving said slide towards the mould prior to a casting, means controlled by a periodically power actuated part of the machine for automatically adjusting some of said sections to project into the mould slot during the pre-casting time during which the slide is against the mould, means for thereafter locking the sections in position relatively to the slide, and means for withdrawing the slide to its normal inoperative position pending the casting of a slug.

4. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine according to claim 3 wherein said sections are urged towards their operative positions in the slide by spring means in the slide acting against catches or stops for locating the sections.

5. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine according to claim 3 comprising catch means for holding said sections in operative or inoperative positions in relation to said slide, and means controlled by a periodically power actuated part of the machine for releasing said catches before the slide is moved against the mould and for re-setting said catches after the said automatic adjustment of said sections in accordance with the mould.

6. A typographical slug casting machine comprising a slotted mould interchangeable for a mould with a slot of a different size, an ejector slide with an ejector blade formed of sections slidable therein, a power actuated cam Wheel for operating said mould and slide, and means actuated by said cam wheel and controlled by cooperation with the casting slot of the mould in use for automatically adjusting the number of blade sections in operation according to the size of said mould slot.

'7. A typographical slug casting machine according to claim 6 comprising means for bringing together the mould in use and said slide, prior to a casting, spring means in the slide 'for urging said sections towards the mould, catch means normally locking sections relatively to said slide, means actuated by said cam wheel for releasing said catches when the mould and slide are brought together, and thereby allowing entry into the mould slot of those blade sections which are embraced thereby, means for re-locking the blade sections in their new positions in the slide, and means for thereafter withdrawing the slide to its normal position, pending a casting.

8. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine with an interchangeable mould comprising a sectional ejector blade adjustable in width, and means operated by a periodicaily actuated part of the machine only after the mould has been changed for automatically adjusting the effective width of the blade in accordance with the length of the newly provided mould slot.

9. Slug ejector mechanism for a typographical slug casting machine with an interchangeable mould comprising a sectional ejector blade adjustable in width, and means for automatically adjusting the effective width of said blade according to the length of mould slot in use, said means being normally in an inoperative position but being moved into a position for operation by a. periodically actuated part of the machine, by an element of the machine which is moved only for the purpose of changing the mould.

10. Slug ejecting mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said means are moved into operative position by manually operated means.

11. Slug ejecting mechanism according to claim 9 wherein said means are automatically returned to their normal, inoperative position after a single operation from said periodically actuated part of the machine.

12. Slug ejecting mechanism according to claim 10 comprising an extensible lever member connected by a linkage to the mould wheel pinion, and adapted to be extended by said linkage into the path of an operating cam when said pinion is Withdrawn for disconnection from its drive.

CHRISTIAN AUGUSTUS ALBRECHT. PAUL SCKRABEI. 

